Enlarge ImageRequest to buy this photoEamon Queeney | DispatchSix of the nine starters for Grove City have played together since fourth grade. The city has rallied around the Greyhounds, who have won 20 or more games four straight years.

The first time Tyler Kent laid eyes on Jimmy Gravett was nine long years ago, but time has not
dulled his first impression.

“We were on a 9-and-under team, and I thought Jimmy was a little dirtbag kind of kid,” Kent
said. “What I mean is Jimmy would do anything to win a baseball game, and that’s a compliment. The
way you see him now is the way he was then. He’s just a competitor.”

Gravett, a senior shortstop for Grove City, was standing just a few feet away and smiling wide.
His uniform was worn and, yes, it was filthy.

Although the Greyhounds have wall-to-wall talent, they have reached a second straight Division I
state tournament playing the only way boys from this blue-collar suburb seem to know how. They take
it to the limit.

Grove City (26-2), which has won at least 20 games for the fourth straight year, will play
Cincinnati Moeller (24-5) in a semifinal at 7 p.m. on Thursday in Huntington Park.

“Our players fight for each other nonstop,” fourth-year coach Ryan Alexander said. “This is a
great, great group to work with every year. Everyone wants to be that guy with the bat in his hands
at the end or the ball hit to him because they want to come through for their teammates.”

For six of the nine starters, that attitude has been present since they were in fourth grade
playing summer ball. Kent and Gravett are best friends, and their fathers also have become
close.

It might seem as though the Greyhounds haven’t had to work hard winning another Ohio Capital
Conference Ohio Division championship and driving through the tournament.

The team statistics — 255 runs scored, 94 stolen bases, a .388 batting average and only 54
errors — are off the charts.

But Grove City had to come from behind in a district semifinal to defeat Worthington Kilbourne
5-3 and in a regional championship game to defeat Olentangy Orange 7-4.

“This is so hard to do, getting back to the state tournament,” Gravett said. “I think we’ve been
mentally and physically tough. We weren’t worried when we were losing 2-0 to Orange. We just kept
playing.”

That’s where the toughness comes into play. Knock down a Grove City player and teammates will
knock down two of yours.

“We all hang out together,” said pitcher Mitchell Stephens, who is 8-0. “We’ll go over to Mike
Scott’s house or we’ll play basketball in Jimmy Gravett’s backyard. We have that chemistry. We’ve
got a bunch of competitors. We can be nasty.”

Alexander said the players also play hard for a community that offers tremendous support.

“I don’t think there is a town that rallies around its high-school teams like this one,” he
said. “We sell out for football and basketball. You will see the fans show up for baseball in all
types of weather. I think our guys have done the community proud.”